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Age-related patterns in cranial suture and synchondrosis obliteration in 371 known-age North American grey wolves (Canis lupus) are examined to assess their utility in estimating the age of archaeological and paleontological wolf crania. Differences in age-related obliteration patterns between these wolves and 576 known-age domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) also are explored. Domestication has likely altered the growth and development of dog crania in relation to that of wolves, but these processes remain poorly understood. Wolf total suture obliteration score and age were positively correlated, indicating that the level of suture obliteration can be used to track age to some extent. Wolf sex and dietary patterns had no meaningful effects on this correlation. Mesocephalic or dolichocephalic dogs generally begin exhibiting more extensive suture obliteration than wolves during early adulthood, at about 2–4 years of age. This pattern of more extensive obliteration persists throughout the lifespan, with dogs tending to experience more obliteration in the observed sutures and synchondroses. Several interrelated factors may contribute to this pattern, all outcomes of domestication, including differences in physical strains in the cranium, alteration of development and ageing, and the emergence of diverse head shapes that relate in part to suture closure timing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: Sepsis is the leading cause of mortality in patients with childhood cancer receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. Pediatric hematology/oncology and transplant (PHOT) providers must counsel their patients on the safety of public activities and weigh the risk of infection exposure with the social and developmental benefits of in-person school and social outings. We hypothesize that there is significant variability in recommendations given by PHOT providers. METHODS: An electronic anonymous survey was developed and piloted by a group of PHOT providers to assess current methods for educating patients and families on limiting infectious exposures. Five clinical vignettes were created by the study team to explore how providers balance the competing priorities of safety and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The electronic survey was institutional review board–approved and disseminated via email to all PHOT providers affiliated with the Children's Oncology Group across the United States. RESULTS: In total, 545 clinicians completed the survey. Most respondents were attending physicians (393, 72%), followed by fellows (61, 11%), advanced practice providers (APPs; 38, 7%), and nurses (37, 7%). On average, nurses and fellows made more conservative recommendations for avoiding infectious exposures compared with the recommendations from attending physicians and APPs (P <.0001). On average, providers with more years of clinical experience expressed less cautious recommendations, whereas those with less years of experience provided more cautious recommendations for avoiding infectious exposures (P =.0072). CONCLUSION: This survey demonstrates the importance of collaboration between all members of the care team in defining priorities for balancing safety risk and HRQoL to provide consistent messaging to patients. The variations in survey responses highlight the need for universal guidelines to standardize physician recommendations for limiting infectious exposures in pediatric patients on chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos) is a predator of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), Arctic hares (Lepus arcticus), and endangered Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) in the Canadian High Arctic. Although Arctic wolves potentially affect the dynamics of muskoxen and Peary caribou populations, knowledge about their abundance, distribution, and predation patterns is limited. Inuit and Inuvialuit communities value these species for sociocultural and subsistence reasons, and community members are concerned about how interactions among these species and their environment may change in a warming, unpredictable Arctic. We conducted a study from 2014–2018 of wolves in the rolling tundra of central Ellesmere Island (Fosheim Peninsula) and eastern Axel Heiberg Island. This area supported relatively high densities of muskoxen and Arctic hares, and previously supported Peary caribou, although caribou were mostly absent in the area during our study. We deployed global positioning system (GPS) radio‐collars on 10 adult wolves in 6 packs on Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands to describe wolf density and predation patterns. Wolves were neither nomadic nor migratory; they remained on territories year‐round, with summer densities of 2.5–8.0 adult wolves/1,000 km2 and 3.7–10.4 wolves/1,000 km2 including pups. Based on a ground search of 312 of 868 location clusters over a 340‐day period, wolves in a focal study pack killed approximately 0.12 muskoxen/day, equivalent to a predation rate of 5.5–17.0% of the estimated muskox population (older than 10 months old). This predation rate is likely sustainable given that calves and yearlings rather than reproductive adults comprised most documented kills, and that muskox populations can increase at rates up to 20%. The kill rate for this pack also implied a biomass intake deficit of 0.82–1.63 kg/wolf/day that could have been offset by each wolf consuming 115–228 Arctic hares annually. The decline of Peary caribou in the study area precluded any assessment of wolf predation influences on their population, but annual telemetry data confirming the year‐round presence of a wolf–ungulate–hare system with relatively high wolf densities suggests that apparent competition could present a challenge to Peary caribou recovery efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a global health crisis, responsible for nearly 20 million deaths annually worldwide and 12.6% of all deaths in the United States. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are critical for developing evidence-based clinical guidelines, but inconsistent outcome reporting across RCTs hinders evidence synthesis and comparability. In 2015, McNamara et al. introduced a CAD core outcome set (COS) to promote standardization in CAD trial outcomes. This study evaluates the uptake of the CAD COS in RCTs registered at ClinicalTrials.gov since its publication., Methods: This trial registry analysis evaluated the uptake of the CAD COS in phase III/IV RCTs registered on ClinicalTrials.gov from May 2010 to June 2023. Trials were included if they assessed CAD interventions and excluded if the trials were non-randomized, focused on diagnostic tests, or were categorized as "not applicable" (e.g., behavioral interventions). COS adherence was measured as the proportion of reported outcomes among the 23 defined in the CAD COS. We analyzed changes in adherence over time, including pre- and post-COS publication periods, with secondary analyses examining continent, sponsor type, recruitment status, and enrollment number., Results: Among 433 trials, procedural interventions (45.0%) and all-cause mortality (40.9%) were the most reported outcomes, while acute renal failure (2.1%) and dyspnea (2.8%) were the least. Pre-2015, trials reported an average of 11.5% of the COS-defined outcomes. Post-2015, trials initiated after the CAD COS publication reported a slightly higher proportion of COS-defined outcomes compared to earlier trials, reflecting a modest increase in the number of items reported. However, this increase was not statistically significant (p = 0.012). Recruitment status significantly influenced adherence (p < 0.001), while continent and sponsor type did not. A weak positive correlation was observed between enrollment number and adherence (r = 0.27, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Despite its publication in 2015, CAD COS uptake remains limited, with no significant changes in adherence over time. Barriers such as limited dissemination, lack of trialist awareness, and preferences for custom outcomes likely contribute to these findings. Greater emphasis on education, patient-centered outcomes, and COS tailored to specific CAD indications is needed to enhance uptake and comparability in CAD trials., Competing Interests: Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: MV reports receipt of funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the US Office of Research Integrity, Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology, and internal grants from Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences — all outside of the present work., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Objective : The 10th International brain computer interface (BCI) Society Meeting, 'Balancing Innovation and Translation', was held from the 6th to 9th of June 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. This report provides a summary of the workshop ' Building Consensus on Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) for BCI Devices '. This workshop was intended to give participants an overview of the current state of BCI, future opportunities, and how different countries and regions provide regulatory oversight to support the BCI community to develop safe and effective devices for patients. Approach : Five presentations and a panel discussion including representatives from regulators, industry, and clinical research stakeholders focused on how various stakeholders and the BCI community might best work together to ensure studies provide data that is useful for evaluating safety and effectiveness, including reaching consensus on COAs that represent clinically meaningful benefits and support regulatory and payor requirements. This report focuses on the regulatory and reimbursement requirements for medical devices and how to best measure safety and effectiveness and summarizes the presentations from five experts and the discussion between the panel and the audience. Main results : Consensus was reached on the following items specifically related to BCI: (i) the importance of and need for a new generation of COAs, (ii) the challenges facing the development of appropriate clinical outcome assessments, and (iii) that improvements in COAs should demonstrate obvious and clinically meaningful benefit(s). There was discussion on: (i) clinical trial design for BCIs and (ii) considerations for payor reimbursement and other funding. Significance : Whilst the importance of building community consensus on COAs was apparent, further collaboration will be required to reach consensus on which specific current and/or novel COAs could be used for the BCI field to evolve from research to market., (© 2025 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.)

Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals. We tracked 574 individuals from six species within the genus Canis in 15 countries on four continents with GPS telemetry to estimate the time that pairs of individuals within social groups spent in close proximity and test hypotheses regarding drivers of cohesion. Pairs of social canids (Canis spp.) varied widely in the proportion of time they spent together (5%-100%) during seasonal monitoring periods relative to both intrinsic characteristics and environmental conditions. The majority of our data came from three species of wolves (gray wolves, eastern wolves, and red wolves) and coyotes. For these species, cohesion within social groups was greatest between breeding pairs and varied seasonally as the nature of cooperative activities changed relative to annual life history patterns. Across species, wolves were more cohesive than coyotes. For wolves, pairs were less cohesive in larger groups, and when suitable, small prey was present reflecting the constraints of food resources and intragroup competition on social associations. Pair cohesion in wolves declined with increased anthropogenic modification of the landscape and greater climatic variability, underscoring challenges for conserving social top predators in a changing world. We show that pairwise cohesion in social groups varies strongly both within and across Canis species, as individuals respond to changing ecological context defined by resources, competition, and anthropogenic disturbance. Our work highlights that cohesion is a highly plastic component of animal sociality that holds significant promise for elucidating ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying cooperative behavior., (© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.)